MJW Mondiale

asimmdasimmd Frets: 115
edited May 2016 in Amp Reviews

I had read so many positive comments regarding MJW amps that i thought it was time i tried one myself.

The amp i wanted was to sit nicely between my Boogie 5/25 head and Vox AC15 no point having 3 amps that al sound the same.


A phone call to Martin and the spec was discussed and eventually after a couple more phone calls it was finalised.

The amp was to be based on a Roadstar but with some extras.

The Roadstar has EL84 Power Valves and these would be the same in my amp the difference being that i would have 18 Watts as the maximum output not 36.

The spec is 2 Channel.

One ECC83 with Tone and Volume controls.

An EF86 Channel with a 6 way rotary tone selector and Volume Control.

Master Volume Control and a Master Cut that affects both channels giving more tone options.

There is also a D.I.out on the rear panel and a Triode/Pentode switch to halve the power.

I also ordered a 1X12 Cab to go with it.


Each Channel has 2 inputs one suitable for single coil pickups and one for Humbuckers although i have tried

a single coil guitar in both inputs and it sounds fine.

The order was cornfirmed in November 2015 and delivery was in March 2016.

I know its probably boring for a lot of members but i don't play Overdrive/Distortion music i prefer the clean sort of

music such as Hank Marvin Chet Atkins etc,the closest i get to overdrive is Eagles and Knopfler and not much of that either.


So the amp arrived and Martin, with the help of my NOS56 Custom Shop Strat started showing me how it worked.

The first chord Martin played had me smiling could this really be my amp the Strat never sounded so good and it just got

better and better the more Martin played.

I usually play with delay/reverb but no time to set it up that was left for me to do later.

As we all know guitars and amps always sound different when used in our own environment so i couldn't wait to get it

into the studio to try it out.

Wow after hooking it up to my recording system i could not believe how good the amp sounded,i DI all my recordings,

the amp going through my Weber Mini Mass Attenuator.

Its all there Vox if i need it Marshall/Boogie clean as you could want crank up the Master and Volume and slightly overdrive the amp

if thats your thing it never loses it character.

So thats it big thank you to Martin for his patience in answering all my questions and for giving me am amp that not only

promises to deliver it actually does.

If you are thinking of a new amp give Martin a ring and ask the questions it will definately be worth while and you won't be disappointed.

Thanks Martin.

Alan

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Comments

  • sw67sw67 Frets: 228
    Fantastic amps - i have a roadstar 18 combo that i picked up used and i will do a review when i get a chance. I no longer use drive pedals and can get any sound i want out it without any effort. I use a strat , les paul and a st blues with p90s. I also have input 1 and 2 ( can you tell me what one is for single coil / humbuckers ) and is it fixed bias
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  • asimmdasimmd Frets: 115
    Hi sw67 On my amp the top input is Single Coil bottom input for Humbucker but as I said I have used a Strat in both and the difference is that when I use the Bottom input I have to turn the volume up. Regarding the Bias the amp is self biasing.
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  • martinwmartinw Frets: 2149
    tFB Trader
    Thanks for the review! :)
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  • therose789therose789 Frets: 467
    I have only just discovered these amps even though I have been here ages! They look right nice! 

    Do you do a JTM45 style amp @martinw ;
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  • martinwmartinw Frets: 2149
    tFB Trader
    I have only just discovered these amps even though I have been here ages! They look right nice! 
    Thanks! :)


    Do you do a JTM45 style amp @martinw ;

    Yes, the Electra 'Grind' is my take on that, and it can be as close as you want to the original, or a bit different.

    For instance, as standard I do it with 1 input and a blended version of the bright/normal channels, so it's easier to set up, and it also has a master volume. You can have it lower power by cathode biasing it, or the standard power output. For a JTM45 flavoured amp I would normally select KT66 output valves, but you could have 5881's or make it a JTM50-alike and have EL34s.

    There's loads of other options such as Power Scaling, dual master volumes etc.

    Alternatively you can have one built very close, if not identical (electronically) to the original.

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